Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1887-06-19
THE COMING BATTLE.

City council convenes in extra session to-
morrow evening. The indications are pro-
| nounced by all as being more than favorable
for lively meeting. There are baskets of
petitions not acted upon and some more mo-
tor line ordinances which have ornamented
| the basket at different periods from the top
to the bottom. Some of them are now near
| the bottom having been before the council
| for several months.
The leading question that seems now to be
demanding solution is the sewerage problem.
As the days grow warmer the demand for
| the same seems to impress itself upon the
| council as well as public.
A member of the council yesterday stated
it was no longer possible to dodge the ques-
ton. s'To be sure" he said, ''the council
| can't act until the public demands action as
it would be severely criticised for the same.
| If the council would act even one week be-
fore public opinion demanded ac-
ton all the newspapers IN the
city would be besieged with numberless COM
munications giving the city fathers severe
criticisipg for spending the public funds ex-
horbitantly. OF course a system followed
out sufficiently to give present relief to the
city will cost good deal of money. The
public, you know, must be prepared, or In
other wordSdemand the expenditure before
| the council can afford to make the venture.
| 1t seems now evident to one that the people
are willing that the council shall take de-
cisive steps, and hence now is our time to
TIL hot
and Lawrence avenue is becoming as bad as
ever the noted Topeka avenue was No one
who passes there either by day or night can
| fail to observe that there should be some
heroic treatment in that section.
| 81 understand today that First street be-
tween Main and Water streets should be inn
proved in such way that the street will
not be drained under the buildings
on the south side of the street. For
some time, in fact during the late rains the
water has found its way under the Wichita
Steam Laundry and it has been pumped out
into the alley. That action caused some
| others south of there to kick, as the water
would settle under their buildings. You
know that the curbing has been put down on
| the east side of Water street, d it has also
been ordered on both sides Of First, between
| Water and Main streets. l don't know why
the curbing there has not been put down. If
it had been put down when ordered the
| present trouble would not have been expert
enced Isay it was ordered some time ago, and
am sure it was, and it can be made to join
the Water street gutter and save the present
81 think the city should Immediately en-
ploy some engineers to make level OF the
city and an estimate of cost of every line.
Give us complete system and let the sewer
| be constructed just as fast as it it is needed.
| The gentlemen who came here for Denver
| introduced good scheme: it is substantially
| my idea of what ought to be done. Think
the sewerage committee ought to make re-
port on thai proposition soon and If their
offer is not accepted we can figure with some
one else The time has come when we must
have sewerage We are able to put it in
and the city according to the opinion of the
best surveyors can be severed with less ex-
pense than any city in the country, SO let it
be done